{"id":2043,"date":"2023-09-01T22:01:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T22:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=2043"},"modified":"2023-09-01T22:02:48","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T22:02:48","slug":"grant-schapps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=2043","title":{"rendered":"GRANT SCHAPPS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GRANT SCHAPPS NEWLY APPOINTED MINISTER OF DEFENCE<\/h4>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

GRANT SCHAPPS<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant Shapps was born on 14 September 1968 in Croxley Green<\/a>, Rickmansworth<\/a>, Hertfordshire<\/a>, the son of Beryl and Tony Shapps.  His family is Jewish.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant's brother, Andre Schapps, is a musician who was a member of\u00a0Big Audio Dynamite<\/a>\u00a0(BAD) between 1994 and 1998, playing\u00a0keyboards<\/a>. Their cousin\u00a0Mick Jones<\/a>\u00a0was a key figure in\u00a0British punk rock<\/a>\u00a0of the late 1970s, and a founding member of both\u00a0the Clash<\/a>\u00a0and Big Audio Dynamite.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grant Schapps was educated at Yorke Mead Primary School,\u00a0Watford Grammar School for Boys<\/a>, where he achieved 5 'O' Levels, and at\u00a0Cassio College<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Watford<\/a>, where he studied business and finance.\u00a0\u00a0He subsequently completed a business and finance course at\u00a0Manchester Polytechnic<\/a>, and received a\u00a0Higher National Diploma<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps was also National President of the\u00a0BBYO (B\u2019nai B\u2019rith Youth Organisation\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1989, he was involved in a car crash in Kansas<\/a>, United States, that left him in a coma for a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business ventures<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Schapps started his working life as a photocopier sales rep. In 1990, aged 22,\u00a0Schapps founded PrintHouse Corporation,\u00a0\u00a0a design, print, website creation and marketing business in London,\u00a0\u00a0based on a collapsed printing business he purchased from the\u00a0receiver<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0He stepped down as a director in 2009,\u00a0\u00a0but remained the majority shareholder.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps founded a web publishing business, How To Corp Limited, with his wife while he was recovering from cancer.\u00a0\u00a0The company marketed business publications and software. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Schapps stood down as a director in July 2008; his wife remained as director until the company was dissolved in 2014.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2012, Google blacklisted 19 of the Schapps' business websites for violating rules on copyright infringement related to the\u00a0web scraping<\/a>-based TrafficPayMaster software sold by them.\u00a0\u00a0Schapps's web marketing business's 20\/20 Challenge publication also drew criticism. It cost $497 and promised customers earnings of $20,000 in 20 days. Upon purchase, the \"toolkit\" was revealed to be an ebook, advising the user to create their own toolkit and\u00a0recruit 100 \"Joint Venture Partners\"<\/a>\u00a0to resell it for a share of the profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scchapps's use of the names\u00a0Michael Green<\/em>,\u00a0Corinne Stockheath<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Sebastian Fox<\/em>\u00a0attracted controversy in 2012. He denied having used a pseudonym after entering parliament and, in 2014, threatened legal action against a constituent who had stated on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0that he had. In February 2015, he publicly said: \"I don't have a second job and have never had a second job while being an MP. End of story.\"\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in March 2015, Schapps admitted to having had a second job while being an MP, and practising business under a pseudonym.\u00a0\u00a0In his admission, he stated that he had \"over-firmly denied\" having a second job.\u00a0\u00a0In March 2015, Dean Archer, the constituent previously threatened with legal action by Schapps, threatened Schapps with legal action.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political career<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After deciding to go into politics, Schapps wrote to\u00a0Watford<\/a>\u00a0Conservative<\/a>\u00a0MP\u00a0Tristan Garel-Jones<\/a>, who invited him to the\u00a0House of Commons<\/a>\u00a0and gave Schapps advice. Schapps made his first foray into politics in\u00a01990<\/a>, when he was a Conservative candidate for a\u00a0Labour<\/a>-held seat in\u00a0Old Moat<\/a>\u00a0ward on\u00a0Manchester City Council<\/a>. Shapps finished in a distant second place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a01994<\/a>, Schapps stood as a Conservative candidate for the two-member St Andrews ward in the\u00a0London Borough of Brent<\/a>\u00a0local elections, but was unsuccessful in being returned as a councillor, with\u00a0Labour<\/a>\u00a0narrowly holding both seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliamentary candidacy<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schapps unsuccessfully contested the seat of\u00a0North Southwark and Bermondsey<\/a>\u00a0during the\u00a01997 general election<\/a>\u00a0as the Conservative Party candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps stood for the\u00a0Welwyn Hatfield<\/a>\u00a0constituency in the\u00a02001 general election<\/a>, again unsuccessfully.\u00a0\u00a0Schapps used the name\u00a0Grant V Shapps<\/em>\u00a0in the 2001 and\u00a02005 general elections<\/a>, despite not having a middle name on his birth or marriage certificates,\u00a0\u00a0though in English law one may change one's name at any time without any formal procedures and this would not be recorded on existing certificates.\u00a0\u00a0He was reselected to fight Welwyn Hatfield in 2002 and continued his local campaigning over the next four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Member of Parliament<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schapps stood again in the\u00a02005 general election<\/a>\u00a0and was elected as the Conservative MP for Welwyn Hatfield, defeating the Labour MP and Minister for Public Health,\u00a0Melanie Johnson<\/a>. He received 22,172 votes (49.6%) and had a majority of 5,946 (13.3%), recording the second highest swing from Labour to Conservative in the election of 8.2%.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps publicly backed\u00a0David Cameron<\/a>'s bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party, seconding Cameron's nomination papers. Upon Cameron's election as party leader Shapps was appointed vice chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for campaigning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was a member of the Public Administration Select Committee<\/a> between May 2005 and February 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the 2010 general election<\/a> he was re-elected with an 11.1% swing and a majority of 17,423, taking 57% of the vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps was opposed to the UK's withdrawal from the European Union prior to the\u00a02016 referendum<\/a>\u00a0and voted Remain.\u00a0\u00a0However, following the referendum, Schapps announced he would support the result and vote to trigger Article 50. He also called on other Remain supporting MPs to do the same, arguing that voting down Article 50 to prevent Brexit would be \"creating a situation which no-one wants be it MPs, voters or business\" and that Parliament would contradict the fact it had granted the public a referendum on Britain's EU membership if it was not prepared to respect the result.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2017, Schapps called for\u00a0Theresa May<\/a>'s resignation, saying that the party could not \"bury its head in the sand\" in the wake of the June election.\u00a0\u00a0Schapps said that 30 MPs and \"one or two\" Cabinet ministers agreed with him that\u00a0Theresa May<\/a>\u00a0should resign.\u00a0\u00a0May resigned two years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the\u00a02019 general election<\/a>, Schapps was re-elected with a majority of 10,955, taking 52.6% of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Minister of State for Housing and Local Government<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In May 2010, Shapps became Minister of State for Housing and Local Government<\/a> within the Communities and Local Government department<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He chaired the Cross-Ministerial Working Group  on Homelessness which includes ministers from eight Government departments.  The group introduced 'No Second Night Out', a policy designed to prevent rough sleeping nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Minister of State for Housing, Schapps promoted plans for flexible rent and controversially ended automatic lifetime social tenancies.\u00a0\u00a0He also introduced the New Homes Bonus which rewarded councils for building more homes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0At the 2011 party conference, Schapps backed the expansion of right to buy with the income being spent on replacing the sold housing with new affordable housing on a one for one basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, cShapps launched StreetLink\u00a0\u00a0\u2013 a website and phone app for the public to bring help to rough sleepers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conservative Party co-chairman<\/strong> ]<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In September 2012, Schapps was appointed\u00a0Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0in\u00a0Cameron's first major reshuffle<\/a>. His salary was paid by the party.\u00a0\u00a0That November, Shapps hired political strategist\u00a0Lynton Crosby<\/a>\u00a0to provide strategic advice and run the 2015 election campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0In October 2013, Schapps told\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em><\/a>\u00a0that the\u00a0BBC<\/a>\u00a0could forfeit the right to its\u00a0licence fee<\/a>\u00a0if it did not resolve its \"culture of waste and secrecy\". He also suggested that the organisation was biased against the Conservative Party, saying it did not \"apply fairness in both directions\" and that there was a \"question of credibility for the organisation\".\u00a0His comments sparked a vigorous response from a former\u00a0BBC Director General<\/a>\u00a0Greg Dyke<\/a>\u00a0who said that \"politicians shouldn't define partiality\".\u00a0\u00a0Others, including the then\u00a0BBC Director General<\/a>\u00a0Tony Hall<\/a>\u00a0echoed some of Shapps's comments by saying that the \"BBC needs to start treating public money as its own\".\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SChapps ceased to be co-chairman of the Conservative Party in May 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister of State for International Development<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On 11 May 2015, Schapps was sacked from the Cabinet,\u00a0\u00a0which he had attended as Conservative Party co-chairman and Minister without portfolio at the Cabinet Office, and appointed as Minister of State at the\u00a0Department for International Development<\/a>. BBC political correspondent\u00a0Chris Mason<\/a>\u00a0said the change appeared to be a demotion,\u00a0\u00a0while\u00a0The Guardian<\/em><\/a>'s chief political correspondent,\u00a0Nicholas Watt<\/a>, went further, calling it \"a humiliating blow\".\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 28 November 2015, Schapps stood down as minister of state due to allegations of bullying within the Conservative Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been claimed that Schapps, in his previous role as party co-chairman, had ignored repeated allegations of bullying involving\u00a0Mark Clarke<\/a>, the then party youth organiser.\u00a0Baroness Warsi<\/a>, Shapps's predecessor as co-chair of the Conservative Party, had written to Schapps to raise concerns about Clarke's conduct in January 2015.\u00a0\u00a0Schapps had appointed Clarke to head his party's\u00a0RoadTrip\u00a02015<\/em>\u00a0campaign in January 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary of State for Transport<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Boris Johnson<\/a>\u00a0appointed Schapps\u00a0Secretary of State for Transport<\/a>\u00a0upon his accession to Prime Minister. In the\u00a0February 2020 cabinet reshuffle<\/a>\u00a0he retained this portfolio\u00a0\u00a0He was given Cabinet responsibility for the\u00a0Northern Powerhouse<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Cook Collapse<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On 23 September 2019,\u00a0Thomas Cook Group<\/a>\u00a0fell into administration, leaving more than 150,000 British tourists in need of repatriation. When asked why the Government chose not to bail out the company, Schapps said, \"I fear it would have kept them afloat for a very short period of time and then we would have been back in the position of needing to repatriate people in any case.\"
\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Cycling<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In May 2020, Schapps unveiled investment in cycle lanes totalling \u00a3250 million and plans for\u00a0e-scooters<\/a>\u00a0to be trialled on British roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 2022 Leadership bid<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Schapps announced his\u00a0campaign for leadership<\/a>\u00a0of the Conservative Party, following the resignation of\u00a0Boris Johnson<\/a>, on 9 July 2022.\u00a0\u00a0He withdrew from the race on 12 July, endorsing\u00a0Rishi Sunak<\/a>\u00a0for leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Secretary<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shapps was appointed Home Secretary<\/a> on 19 October 2022 following the resignation of Suella Braverman<\/a>.  This occurred one day before Prime Minister Liz Truss<\/a> announced her own resignation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business Secretary<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schapps was appointed\u00a0business secretary<\/a>\u00a0on 25 October 2022 by\u00a0Rishi Sunak<\/a>\u00a0after the resignation of former business secretary\u00a0Jacob Rees-Mogg<\/a>\u00a0while Suella Braverman returned to the position of Home Secretary.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Energy Secretary<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following a cabinet reshuffle, Schapps was moved into the newly created portfolio of\u00a0Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero<\/a>. Shapps' newly formed\u00a0ministry<\/a>\u00a0had been formed from responsibilities taken from his previous role. He was the first holder of the role of Energy Secretary since\u00a0Amber Rudd<\/a>\u00a0in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personal life<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He married Belinda Goldstone in 1997. The couple have three children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999 Schapps was diagnosed with\u00a0Hodgkin's lymphoma<\/a>\u00a0and underwent\u00a0chemotherapy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0radiotherapy<\/a>\u00a0recovering from cancer by the following year.\u00a0\u00a0As a result of the effects of chemotherapy, his children\u00a0\u00a0were conceived by\u00a0IVF<\/a>.\u00a0Owing to his past cancer treatment, in February 2021 Shapps became the first UK Cabinet minister to receive a\u00a0COVID-19 vaccine<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0He tested positive for\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0in February 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schapps lists his recreations in\u00a0Who's Who<\/em><\/a>\u00a0as \"private pilot with\u00a0IMC<\/a>\u00a0[Instrument Meteorological Conditions] and night qualifications\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0The Schapps family has been hosting Ukrainian refugee Snezhana Chaykina, her seven-year-old son Nikita, her 75-year-old mother Hanna, and their dog Max at his Hertfordshire home.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRANT SCHAPPS NEWLY APPOINTED MINISTER OF DEFENCE GRANT SCHAPPS Grant Shapps was born on 14 September 1968 in Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, the son of Beryl and Tony Shapps.  His family is Jewish.   Grant's brother, Andre Schapps, is a musician who was a member of\u00a0Big Audio Dynamite\u00a0(BAD) between 1994 and 1998, playing\u00a0keyboards. Their cousin\u00a0Mick Jones\u00a0was a key figure in\u00a0British […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebrities"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2045,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2043\/revisions\/2045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}